Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Someone clears their throat nearby.
We both stop in our tracks. Dopekh stands there, a look of judgment on his face. “Ruth-Ann, Kaz told me to come get you. If you’re done, of course.”
My face gets hot. He caught us chasing each other like a pair of kids. They’re never going to shut up about this now. Bad enough that they already tease me about my friendship with Simone as it is. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Dopekh saunters away, and I inwardly cringe because I know he’s going to tell all the others about what he saw. The a’ani are great friends but terrible gossips. I glance over at Simone. She’s biting back another giggle, and I find myself smiling again. Let them gossip. Right now I feel too good to care.
Pluto puts his paws on my shoe and starts to lick my ankle, as if he’s grooming me. He does this to me all the time, and Simone thinks he’s treating me like a kitten, which only makes her love it even more. I push the overly loving carinoux’s head away from my leg and hold the shitty cookie aloft. “Did you really make a whole batch of these just to prank me?”
She shakes her head, pulling out a small container with a few more cookies inside it. “Just a couple for you specifically.”
I’m touched that she went to so much effort just to see me make a face. My heart warms and I can’t decide if I want to hug her or just reach over and brush a few tendrils of loose hair from her face. I do neither, of course. I don’t have the nerve. Instead, I gesture at the container and push on Pluto’s head again, because he’s still licking. “Give me the rest. I’m going to mix them in with some of the regular cookies and watch the chaos. What’s in them?”
“Some herb that Skritch told me tastes like dirt to humans. I was curious if he was right.”
“He’s right.” I sniff the cookie and make a face.
Simone’s delight is apparent. “I got you so good. I’m going to have to think up some other heinous flavor combinations and hit you when you least expect it.”
“You assume I’ll be by every day,” I counter.
“Oh, you’ll be by.” She gives me a confident look and hands me the cookie container. “You can’t resist me. Or my pet.”
Her teasing makes me all flustered. It’s like she can read my mind and knows that I had filthy dreams about her last night. That we were snuggled in bed together, and when I reached for her, she kissed me…and kissed me and just kept on kissing me for hours.
First time in a long time I haven’t wanted to wake up.
Pluto gives my leg another wet lick and I squirm away, the moment broken.
A customer strolls up, and Simone turns her focus on her while I sip my tea, waiting for a lull in her business again. For months now, I’ve been lingering for longer each morning. I could talk to her for hours a day and never get enough. The way she thinks is fascinating to me. She’s crafty, always looking for a new approach to an old problem, and ambitious enough to go after what she wants. I admire that. I’ve spent so long trying to figure out who and what I am that sometimes I wonder if I’m my own person or just a pale copy of the original Ruth from Earth. I don’t normally doubt myself too much—Ruthie’s the one eaten up by it—but sometimes I wonder if that’s why I’m not braver.
Because if I was really brave, I’d tell Simone that I think she’s incredible. Better than incredible. Radiant. The best thing on this planet. The person I think about every morning when I wake up and wonder about every night as I go to sleep.
I watch her as she chats with the pretty blonde woman and tosses an extra cookie—the good kind—into her bag. She waves as the woman leaves and then turns back to me. “I can’t keep you. I imagine you need to head on out so you don’t get into trouble.”
“They can wait on me. It’s not like I’m pivotal right now.” I bend down and rub Pluto’s jowls, since I’m not going to get to see him for several hours. I want to get all my loving in before he has a chance to miss me. So I scratch at his ear buds and run my fingers over his neck, getting all the itchy spots while he squirms and pants, loving the affection.
“You’re not pivotal right now? How so?” Simone asks, even as she tidies up her trays, sliding cookies down to the front of the cart so they’re better seen by customers.